Reacquaintance With Old Friends and Demons
by willowwood
Summary: Spike gets into trouble, and not wanting to open old wounds, the Scooby Juniors decide to go and rescue him.
1. First Sighting

**Title:  **Re-acquaintance With Old Friends and Demons

**Author:** willowwood  
  
**Rating:** R (just to be safeJ)  

**Author's Notes: **This Story is kind of AU, set in the future after the episode 'As You Were'.

**Dedication: **This is dedicated to Houses, who recently nominated 2 of my stories for 3 Shadow and Dust Awards

  
**Summary:**  Spike gets into trouble, and not wanting to open old wounds, the Scooby Juniors decide to go and rescue him.  
  
**Email:** willowwood@postmaster.co.uk

**Chapter 1: First Sighting_  
  
_**

Philip Rupert Giles sat in the offices at the Watchers Council Headquarters, London. He rifled through the various reports that lay strewn across his desk, sorting out the real from the imaginary.__

He had been working for the council for the last 4 years, it was what he had always wanted to do, who he had always wanted to be. It ran in the family, he often reminded himself a small smile playing at the corner on his lips.

"Never a Watcher though" His dads words echoed in his mind, as he remembered the first time he had told Rupert Giles of his career choice. At first he had been adamant about it, after all his father new the repercussions of working along side a slayer.

And so they had reached a compromise, and now here he was working through the papers scattered about his desk, that read of sightings of strange creatures, demons and vampires. It was his job to uncover, the truth from the false-whether these sightings were real or merely a hoax, and although he often despised the lies and time consuming task of discovering them, he was sure he preferred them over the real thing any day.

Suddenly from out in the corridor he heard the muffled sound of shouting, followed by the familiar thumping of footfalls, as people headed down the corridor. He was used to things happening in this building but for some reason, there seemed to be more excitement in the air than usual on this one occasion.

Curiously he pushed away from the table, causing his chair's legs to screech against the wooden floor, as he rose to his feet. Walking across the room, he made his way towards the door, pulling it open, as the sound of the commotion rose in volume suddenly. 

He stepped out into the corridor to see four or more men running in the opposite direction, rifles and other weaponry in hand. He recognised one of them and called out to him

"Hey Anthony, what's going on???"

The man turned to him, a startled expression on his face as though he hadn't expected him to have still been there at the late hour of the night.

"They're bringing a vampire in" he replied quickly, but didn't slow his pace, to explain any further before moving to continue after the three other men who had already disappeared long out of sight. 

"So what's all the fuss about? They do that all the time" Philip shouted out to him, before he managed to round the corner at the end of the corridor and was long out of ear shot.

Anthony seemed unsure of whether to answer the other man or not, but obviously decided to as he cleared his throat.

"This is a Master vampire, Mr Travers has warned everyone to be on full alert just in case" he continued, then turned and disappeared before the other man could disrupt him any longer.

With a sigh, Philip turned back into his office and took a seat at his desk; leaning back he began to consider what Anthony had just told him. When suddenly a thought occurred to him, 'Master Vampire??' he only knew of two, the others having been destroyed buy the current and previous slayers.

So with out a second thought, he grabbed his jacket from where it hung on the back of the wooden chair, and headed out into the corridor and towards the holding cells.

By the time he reached the containment centre, a blackened van had already been backed into the large enclosed area, five men stood crowded around it. The entire room ghostly silent. 

Each of them held some sort of weapon, that Philip doubted in a fight would do them any good, there only use to console there users. One, who was recognised as James Turner, stood directly in front of the shutter doorway, a tranquiliser gun gripped firmly in his hands. As he waited patiently as two others used large metal poles, to flip the doors clasp and pull them open the clanging of metal against metal echoing throughout the room. Once the doors were open the vans dark and eerie interior was displayed to the group, but there wasn't a vampire to be seen, although the automatic reflex action of breathing, could be faintly heard from inside.

Everyone stood in awe, not daring to move as they waited for the vampire to shift, or attack, make any form of escape. They didn't have to hold there breathe for long, as a resounding throaty growl emanated from the shadows, and before they had chance to contemplate what the sound meant. A blur of a black raced from the van, knocking down anything, and anyone that got in its way, it raced around the room. Eyeing up its captures and the surrounding area, looking for any form of escape.

After a moment, it caught sight of the doorway that lay just beyond where Philip stood, and with another growl headed towards him. But suddenly something or someone caught his eye, and before he reached the door he stopped dead in his tracks, directly in front of Philip Giles.

Philip felt as though he was a deer caught in headlights, as he scanned the face of the demon before him. The familiarity of it, catching him completely off  guard, but before he could do or say anything the vampire fell to the ground unconscious, behind him stood James, the tranquiliser aimed directly at where the vampire had once stood. Quickly, long before the vampire would wake up two other men approached it grabbed an arm each and dragged it in the direction of an empty cell.

But Philip didn't see anything after, the creature collapsed to the floor. Cause he had turned on his heels, and was racing towards his car. The sight of the vampires sparkling blue eyes, and blonde peroxide hair burned into his memory like they had many years before.

**TBC**


	2. Play Fights: Old and Young

**AN:** ********** Denotes the beginning and end of a flashback

**Chapter 2: Play Fights: Old and Young.**

**_  
_**The Silver BMW, raced down the unsurprisingly deserted lane. The orange glow from lampposts dotted at various intervals, illuminated the drivers seat whenever it sped under one, only for it to quickly succumb back into the darkness, as soon as they had past.

Those sparkling blue eyes and platinum blonde hair haunted Philips every second, ever since the Vampire had dropped to the ground before him, and he had raced away to his car, desperate to get home as quickly as possible. 

And now as the thrumming of the cars engine buzzed around him, reverberating through his mind and lulling him into a strange state of almost sleepy calm. He slowly began to remember the first time he had seen those unforgettable features.

**********

He had been eight, play fighting with his younger brother on there way to the Magic Box, there mother trailing behind them an amused smile playing on the edges of her lips, even though her watchful gaze was carefully honed onto the two of them, making sure they didn't push each other  to far or wander in the wrong direction.

There father had taken them to Sunnydale as a surprise, during the school holidays along with there mother. He had wanted to go and visit his other 'family' and friends after having not seen them for around 18 months, since Buffy's son William had been born, and he had gone down there for a couple of days.

At one point he'd gently pushed Edward, and then noticing the blue frame work of the familiar Magic Box's front entrance up ahead had taken of at a run, an excited giggle playing on his lips, followed by a shriek as, as he had suspected his five year old brother took off immediately after him.

"You two, be careful!!" Anna Giles had warned, but neither of them had taken any notice. Philip quickened his pace, so as to further the distance between the two of them, and before long he had reached the open doorway of the shop, he screeched to a halt only long enough to change direction before disappearing into the shop, and out of his mothers view.

The conversation Giles and Anya had been having was suddenly disrupted by Philips playful laughter, and the sound of running feet. A smile spread across Giles lips as he watched him, grateful to see his family as though he'd been parted from them for days, when it had merely been a couple of hours. 

He moved to say something, but was disrupted as the rest of his family walked into the shop, Anya on the other hand frowned in annoyance, ready to voice her disapproval if he so much as came close to breaking something. But Philip didn't see any of this, still certain that Edward was hot on his heels, even though at that precise moment he was being lifted into the arms of there father.   
  
And so he continued running, eventually coming into contact with a closed door, the sounds of voices and movement could be heard from behind it. On various other occasions both his parents and Anya, had prevented him from going in to the room beyond it, muttering something about 'best to not get into the thick of it' or what ever was going on behind it, and yet he didn't even take this into consideration as he ran into it, clawing for the handle before barrelling into the room beyond. 

After a couple of steps into the room he screeched to a flying halt, two figures stood before him, neither having noticed his presence they circled one another like predators. Both wanted to make a move, but instinct told them to wait until the other attacked first, much like them Philip was instantly curious as to whose patience would crack first.

He recognised one of them as Buffy Summers, one of his father's closest friends. She was breathing heavily, and her arms slacked a bit as though she was too tired to hold them up, and yet she seemed determined to continue-something in the depths of her green eyes, beneath the tasselled bits of her hair that lay strewn across her face, showed him that no matter what the consequences she was not willing to back down before, the person who stood before her.

Buffy had been one of the first people from Sunnydale he had ever met; she had come to England on business, something to do with the Watchers Council that his father often worked for, and had ended up staying with them for a while. He liked her, she seemed strong and yet gentle in a way he hadn't know existed before her, he liked the way she'd played with him and his brother, he watched her for a while longer before his attention was once again caught by her competitor.

He didn't recall ever having seen the tall man that stood opposite her before, and he was positive there was no way he could have forgotten having done so either. Cause everything about him was distinct, from his sparkling blue eyes and prominent cheekbones down to the long black leather duster that flowed around his ankles with each move he made, forcing your eyes to wonder to the large boots he wore.

Something about the man un-nerved him, how his every bit of attention was focused on Buffy, determined and annoyed and yet they also held a sense of loving, of comfort. A sense of only wanting to be accepted, that he would do anything to be loved.

Philips thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the sound of a voice.

"Hey Philip, are you here to see your dad??" the female voice had asked, and it took him a moment to realize that is was Buffy who was speaking to him, both of them having turned to face him, having noticed him during his thoughts. 

Buffy's expression showed a surprised welcoming, while the mans held only confusion.

Philip nodded his head in agreement a pleased smile on his lips. Suddenly Buffy landed a sly kick to the other mans groin, a triumphant smile appearing on her own features as he dropped to the floor in pain.

"Bloody Hell, Slayer…." the man cried through breathless gasps, his accent distinctly British, Philip noted.

"…..That's down right dirty"

"Well then you should learn to pay more attention" Buffy simply replied playfully, slowly striding over to where Philip stood and placed an arm on his shoulder, guiding him, through the door and into the other room.

A muttered "Cheat" was heard, beyond the excited chatter of the others.

**********

Philip shook his head in an attempt to clear it of the memory as he pulled into the drive of his family's Edwardian style house.

As he pulled up near the entrance, and cut the engine. He noticed that the house was shrouded in darkness, which most likely meant his parent were still out at the party they had hurried off to earlier that night-and he was thankful for it, cause it meant there wasn't any need for whispered words and hurried conversations. He'd be able to tell Edward everything he needed to.

With that he climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him, causing the security light to flood the drive way, and then headed into the house.

Once inside he slammed the front door shut behind him, hoping that the sound that echoed thought out the house would at least begin to stir his brother in the slightest from his sleep, and then he immediately headed for the back bedroom.

Philip flung open the door to his brother's room; it slammed against the desk on the other side with a resounding thud. The things that rested on and against it also rattled in protest.

"Edward wake up" he shouted, flicking on the light switch that lay besides him.

His brother didn't stir

"Edward get up, I need to tell you something" 

Eventually one of Edwards's eyes slowly began to peel open, only to squint closed again as the surprising rush of light evaded him.

"Phil, is that you? I thought you weren't gonna be home till late" he muttered still in the throws of sleep, but slowly beginning to wake up. Philip watched as he began to sit up, rubbing his red and puffy eyes of the remaining sleep that blocked them, before using both hands to brush away his shoulder length, ruffled blonde hair from his face, and turning to look at his brother's worried and confused expression.

"Phil? What's up??" he asked, suddenly worried. Instantly concerned for his brothers, and parents safety.

"We've got a problem".

Edwards, drowsy-ness quickly subsided as the weight of Philips words sunk into him, and he was suddenly fully focused and eager to hear more.

TBC


End file.
